Moving on
by LONEW0LF
Summary: No one stays when they have nothing left. Fox was no different when he lost his friends, his work and most important, Krystal.
1. Chapter 1

Moving on

Chapter 1: A new life.

Fox McCloud, hero of lylat, brave leader of the mercenary team known as star fox, and someone who wasn't really needed anymore. Andross and those allied to him were defeated long ago by and his team. The aparoid engagement had been dealt with a recovery from the attacks on Corneria were nearly complete. Star Wolf hadn't been heard from in a few years now. This made the Fox almost useless to the system. Yes, they were grateful to him and almost all of Lylats inhabitants were in some way saved by and indebted to him. Yet he was no longer needed. His old wingman Falco has taken up most of the work available for mercenaries like himself. Fox was happy for Falco and wished him well however, this meant the system was no longer under Fox's protection. Now that he was no longer needed, Fox set out a new course for himself. Rumors spread of pirates and raiding in the recently colonized Kew region. Where ever help was needed, Fox made it his mission to be there and help.

This was not his only reason though. The fox been alone for the better part of the past two years. Peppy was promoted to general shortly after the aparoid war and Slippy became a lead researcher for the Arwing project. There was one more person that he tried to forget with all his might. No matter how hard he tried however, he couldn't go more than a few hours without thinking about her.

Krystal, someone he cared so much for that four years ago he pushed her out if his team. He couldn't imagine seeing her hurt in any way like so many of his friends and family. His need to keep her safe was what eventually drove her away and into the arms of his rival, Panther of Star Wolf. This was why he had to leave. He feared if he ever saw them again, he wouldn't be able to control himself and may put a few blaster rounds into the one who stole her away.

Fox had gone through a sort of rebranding of Star Fox. The Great Fox two had been sold to Falco and his team so Fox could use his money however he pleased. He in turn used that money and some of his personal savings to buy a new star cruiser named 'Dauntless'. This new ship was more suited for battle like the first Great Fox instead of a carrier like the Great Fox two. Really it had been a cruiser that the Cornerian Navy had cut finding to half way through construction. That's where Fox fronted the bill for the rest of its completion.

The ship was shaped almost like a dagger or short sword. It's hull widened at the rear but became shorter and to a point along the two hundred or so meters of its length. The part that resembled the swords cross guard was a pair of hangars that could carry four fighters and a transport ship on each side. Even though he only had need for one fighter, he liked the idea of having room for allies he may meet along the way. All the crew needs were being taken care of by an onboard AI except for any maintenance on the arwing or the main engines. This meant Fox could pilot this vessel solo only having to fix engine malfunctions as they arose.

One thing this ship couldn't do that the Great Fox could was go into the atmosphere of a planet. The Dauntless would always remain in space. An upgraded warp drive and orbital strike artillery cannons took the place where atmospheric would be on other ships. Laser turrets were placed in strategic areas around the ship.

Fox couldn't help but take a lap around the ship as he first came close to it. He brought his arwing around into hangar where motion lights sensed his craft moving in. As he landed, A system inside the hangar turned his arwing around towards space. Fox opened his canopy and stepped out to a dock that came around his arwing. He looked around for a door to the rest of the ship. He started walking toward the wall closest to the ship when a bluish white hue came from behind him.

"Welcome aboard Captain." A female voice said behind him. Fox turned around and saw a saber tooth cat hologram. "I am your ships Navigational Orienting Vessel Assistant. NOVA for short. Do you require any assistance at the moment?" Fox eyed over Nova who wore a black tunic going down to her knees. She held a pen and clipboard but figured it was only for aesthetic purposes. "If my appearance is a problem then I can change it."

"No, no it's fine. Could you show me to my quarters?" Fox asked.

"Yes Captain." She waved her hand and a green line formed on the floor running in a straight line. It bent ninety degrees left once it met the far wall near the midsection of the ship. Fox walked along the path where he could see a door labeled to main section. The next room Fox entered was a long hallway that seemed to go on for the entire length if the ship.

"Nova, tell me about these areas." Fox said. She waved her hand at a door right by Fox .

"This is the galley area. Able to accommodate the needs of up to forty sailors." The door opened as Nova waved her hand up. Fox stepped in to see four tables with benches and a kitchen full of stainless steel appliances. "There is a large freezer through a doorway in the kitchen that's capable of-." Fox looked past all of that and instead looked beyond the tables to see the the vast empty void of space. No matter how many times he looked out into It, he could always find himself lost in the sights. Looking out to see stars, nebulae, galaxies, the universe itself lay out there. "Captain, I have seem to have lost your attention." Nova said. Fox snapped out of trance the sight pit him in.

"What. Oh, sorry. Could we see the next part of the ship?" Fox said trying to piece together whatever she said. Probably some technical specs or some other unimportant information.

"Yes captain." She disappeared in front of him. "This way captain." She said from the doorway to the hall. Fox followed her as she moved into another door a few feet away from the last. Inside were couches surrounding a large television along with some random table games like pool and shuffleboard. Along the far wall was yet another door. "This," Nova waved to the area in front of him, "is the crew's lounge area. Beyond those doors is the fitness facility. That is all for this facility. Would you like to see the medical facility?" Nova did this for the rest of the ship. Taking him into the various rooms one by one as the they came up on the first room hallway. The medical facility was state of the art like the other rooms. An auto doctor feature was one that his old ship didn't have but needed so he was thankful for this. The auto dock could take care of almost every need such as from scrapes and cuts all the way up to gunshot wounds and plasma burns. It couldn't handle transplants or anything above that nature however.

The next room was labeled the briefing room. Inside was an oval table with a holographic projector in the middle. The projector could landscape every known inhabited planet within all systems down to the acre. The next room was solely for communications. Carrying nearly every radio and transmitter known to Fox inside of one room. Lastly for the first floor was the defensive control room weapons stations. While most were automated, one could take over a turret if a situation called for it. One weapon system was not on an automated system and that was the orbital strike cannons. Three bottom mounted guns that could shoot up to a fifteen inch metal projectile onto the battlefield. With such a weapon, explosives weren't even needed as something traveling at terminal velocity could destroy anything in its way.

In between each room was an elevator that lead up to the next floor. Upstairs were the various sleeping quarters. First was the enlisted crews quarters that at the request of Fox were not filled with beds but instead was left for storage. Near the bow laid the captain's quarters and to the stern were the officers quarters. Fox decided to look at the captains quarters first. He walked in and instantly noticed that his room was larger than his previous rooms on both of the Great Foxes. As it sat at the front of the ship the curvature of the glass went over his entire room creating an awe inspiring view. Fox looked over to a king sized bed that took up maybe a quarter of the room. A metal desk was placed in the corner with a holo computer projector. Next to the doorway was Fox's private bathroom complete with a walk in shower that could easily accommodate two people. His thoughts went straight to images of him together with Krystal. Fox shook his head as he tried rid any thought he had of her. That name was one that only reminded Fox of what could have been.

He walked out of his quarters and walked through the storage into the hall marked officers quarters. The eight rooms were nothing to behold with beds that took up half the them and a desk next to each bed. A bathroom was placed in between each room with a total of four to be shared with the non existent officers of the ship. One more elevator lay at the back of the hallway. A sign above it said 'bridge.' Fox stepped in the elevator and pressed the button to go up. A few seconds later and the doors opened to an almost familiar sight. The bridge reminded him very much of the one on the first Great Fox. All white control panels and bright, vibrant colored buttons. 'Nothing like the exact same thing to help me forget my past.' Fox thought. Nova appeared in front of Fox

"Captain, that is the Dauntless. What are your orders?" Fox looked at her for a minute.

"Set a course for the Kew system."

"Sir, your course is approximately eighteen light years away. This journey will take nine weeks and will use eighty percent of our fuel. Do you wish to proceed?" Fox hesitated for a second thinking one last time of what he was doing. He made up his quickly as he knew he only had one road left really.

"Yes go ahead as planned."

"Understood captain. We will commence our journey in three minutes."

"Thank you Nova." Fox walked over to a chair in the center of the bridge. He sat down and looked out at the endless void he would soon jump into. "Nova can you play music?"

"Yes captain."

Fox looked at his phone. "Play Nobody to blame by Chris Stapleton." The old Fox never to listened to country, nor could name a single artist who sang it. Recently though, it was all Fox listened too. Just so he could remind himself that all of this was his fault to begin with.

End chapter 1

A/N: This is a story I've been thinking on for a bit now. I'm going to try and get a chapter out a week for one of my stories from now on. Moving on was this week's and next week will be Heroes aren't born.

Btw I know I'm pretty bad at explaining what the ship looked like so I made one below this to help visualize what I had in mind.+ is a hangar, ● is an engine and ■ is the bridge.

_195 meters

-/\

-/ \ :Captains Quarters

-|| || : Defense management

-/| |\ :Briefing room/comms

-|| || : Medical

-/ | | \ :Galley/leisure

-/ /■\ \ :Galley/leisure

[ + ●● +]

It looked better in Google Docs.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Fox stood in a void. Nothing surrounded him but darkness and emptiness. Then a light came up illuminating what appeared to be a door inside of a ship. Looking closer at it, it was the main door to the entrance of the Great Fox. Fox stepped closer to it until it opened. Out walked a blue furred fox wearing a loincloth covering only her bear essentials. "...and that's to say thank you." she said looking directly at him. He watched as she took a step forward only to see it fly away like her foot was made of dust. Soon the rest of her and the scene around her vanished. Fox stood quietly and bewildered by what he had just seen. His mind had no time to think more on it as the light came back.

This time he saw Krystal leaning over a railing trying to get a look at all of Corneria city. She wore a grey sweatshirt and a pair of loose fitting jeans that both belonged to Fox. "It's gigantic Fox. How can anyone find their way around?" She looked at Fox. "Fox?" She started to disappear like last time. Only now it was just her body and the background. Krystal's face still stayed in place as her clothes and the background around her changed.

This time she was in her black and purple flight suit inside the Great Fox's master bedroom. Krystal held a wine glass of amber liquid to her lips. She was a little tipsy but not drunk. "I can't believe we did it Fox. The aparoid are gone thanks to us. That was maybe the toughest battle you or I will ever have to deal with." She wrapped her arms around Fox slowly making sure not to spill her glass. "Now it's just us together. Nothing can get between us. Not after all the things we've been through together." Her embrace felt warmer than anything Fox could ever remember. She leaned in and closed her eyes with Fox doing the same. Her warm arms seemed to let way in an instant without him able to look. He no longer felt her embrace or even own his arms around her.

He opened his eyes to see what he could only describe as the fire and fury of Krystal. "...and what am I supposed to do?! Sit here like I'm some trophy you feel like you need to protect! I'm not going to sit here while you die up there like your father!" She raised a hand and slapped his muzzle. This sent him backwards in a hundred eighty degree turn.

Looking up, he saw Krystal was already there sitting down on a bed with her back to him. "Fox…" She said in a low saddening voice. "...if you leave tomorrow. Don't expect me to be here when you get back." Fox quickly ran to her. Just before he got there, a force pulled him back. He tried to run back to her and the harder he tried to run forward, the stronger the pulling force got. He fought and fought to try to get back to Krystal. A bright light came behind him where the force was pulling him into. The light became brighter every second and soon it was all he could see. Once nothing else was in sight he gave up. The force dragged him harder than he anticipated it could. Fox looked back to see a black spec. The spec got bigger until Fox could clearly see what it was. A tombstone that read 'Fox McCloud, Hero to Lylat, Saviour of Sauria, Alone to the bitter end.' Fox tried to close his eyes but couldn't. He could only watch the tombstone get larger until eventually…

 _Dauntless' master bedroom_

Fox woke up in a cold sweat. He quickly felt himself up to make sure he wasn't dead. Falling back onto the bed letting a sigh of relief leaving his body. He wiped his face away from the sweat that had accumulated. "Fuck I hate that dream." He said nearly out of breath. Dreams like this came to him regularly with varying intensity. This was one of the more Intense ones that he would have.

The door to his bathroom was open and illuminated by a small in floor light. Standing up and walking toward his bathroom he noticed that most of him was still covered in sweat. "I think I need a shower." He said allowed to no one.

"Right away sir." A feminine voice said behind him. Fox nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden appearance and voice of Nova. He heard the shower start up in the other room. "Sir, my scanners show that your heart rate has elevated. Are you feeling alright?" Getting a grip on his breath, he became able to answer.

"Yes Nova. Sorry but you startled me." She stood holding her holographic clipboard. The holographic feline watched Fox in his every movement.

"If this is the case then I should apologize for startling you. Your shower has been preheated to ninety eight degrees fahrenheit. Call out my name if you would like the temperature raised or lowered."

"I think that is all I need from you. Thank you Nova." Fox said to her.

"You're welcome captain." She said. Within a the next few seconds she began to flatten into nothingness. Fox walked to his shower trying to figure out what he was going to do today. 'Probably just scour the internet for news clippings and segments about pirates until I get bored and go to the gym like always.' After only a few minutes he got out of the shower and left his room.

Fox sat in the briefing room going over news reports of piracy and colony raids. Fox used the past two weeks to gather information aboard his ship. A holographic projection of the Kew system lay on the table as he used it to mark areas with reported sightings of the pirates. From what he could tell the majority of groups had similar patterns of operation suggesting that there's a boss above the gangs. Though he could only get so much of news reports and internet searches. His real meat and bones would come from reconesses he would have to do himself.

Knowing that the best place to start was gain a few friends, or guns for hire, in the Kewain capital of Icarus. He was going to make his first move very soon as a scare tactic to make his presence in this system known. He had a plan to eliminate a group of pirates that had already destroyed two cargo vessels. These pirates were getting a bit cocky as they failed to make any maneuvers when flying back to their base. Fox had a nearly zeroed in location of where the pirates flew out of but it was surrounded by mountains and other obstacles that would give him away in a heartbeat. He needed a team of trained professionals to carry out his missions alongside as professional as he could get his hands on.

His notes were placed in front of him in a spreadsheet displayed by the hologram. Scrolling through them to make sure he missed nothing about the enemy. A familiar blue hue came from behind. "Captain, we are approaching the Kew system. In forty minutes we will be on Kewain orbit. We will begin deceleration momentarily."

"Thank you Nova." Fox said. The ship began to visibly slow down as could be seen by the stars slowing until they didn't move at all. It didn't mean he wasn't moving at all just meant the stars were far enough away where he could no longer see them move with his ship. Fox kept his eyes on the holo screen trying to find more information about the base he decided to invade. Problem was the number of personal anyone thought was inside. The base was built outside Icarus inside a nearby mountain range and if any initial reports were to be believed, there were anywhere from ten to fifty soldiers and sailors. Once he got in orbit, Fox would see if he could launch a recon satellite to remap the area where the base stand. Hopefully he would get the entire base in his system to make a plan of attack.

Now he still needed a team to back him up in his upcoming mission. Fox walked back to his hangar to get inside his arwing. He knew of an underground system where you could get nearly anything. The Sion Market was based in Icarus and let almost anyone in so long as they contributed to the well-being of the market. All expect for pirates. The piracy and raiding of passing ships left the market dry sometimes. All of the lost cargo and resources made the leaders of Sion grow weary and distasteful of the pirates. This was prevalent to Fox who sought to make friends with the leaders of Sion. Fox hoped that his reputation would be big enough in this part of the galaxy to get some kind of trust and respect with Sion. Maybe even enough to become allies with the influential market.

Within around ten minutes of being in the Kewain planet's orbit, Fox set out in his arwing to find Sion and people who could help him on his mission. Only rumors ever came to him of where the market could be but from what Fox speculated it was more than one. All he had to do is find one if them and Fox would be set. One place said to be a marketplace was the spaceport itself. Fox landed his arwing and looked around at the city surrounding the port. Kew had an estimated thirty million people and a little under half of them lived here. It definitely showed too as this was the only place in Kew big enough to support ships that could travel from system to system. Ships of all sizes lay in the spaceport in various stages of loading and unloading. Most of them were transport ships sent with cargo to deliver from larger ships. Soon a fuel truck drove up to Fox's arwing. Out stepped a weasel and a husky wearing jumpsuits. The weasel walked to the back of the truck where the hose usually was while the husky walked to Fox.

"How much do you need?" The husky asked.

"I'm not going to need any right now but I would like a hangar space for tonight." Fox said. The weasel walked back to the truck and brought out a tablet. He handed it to Fox who saw it was a rental slip.

"Sign here and state how long it will be." The weasel said. Fox did so but thought of a question that might give him a clue to where ever the market might be.

"Hey, do you guys know about any place I could make a quick profit?" Both looked at Fox. Then the husky spoke up.

"If you're referring to what I think you are, stop. It doesn't exist." The husky said in an almost rehearsed voice. "Just sign here and we'll put your arwing in a private hangar." Knowing he wouldn't get anymore out of these two he complied and sign his name. "Thank you Mr.," he looked at the name and stopped, "Mr. McCloud." Both fuel truck workers stared at Fox.

"Can we put my ship in its hangar now?" Fox said. The two workers nodded along with a few 'yes sirs.' They ran back to the truck and extended a long metal boom that attached to the arwings front gear. Fox sat inside the cockpit as the craft got towed away into its own hangar. The hangar was much bigger than his arwing probably able to fit at least two more in front of his. The two workers drove out of the hangar leaving Fox alone with the massive building. Some offices looked to be in the far corner with blacked out windows. Fox looked a bit closer at the windows trying to see what maybe behind them. One of the windows looked to be propped open a small bit and that was the one Fox paid attention too. It would make no difference in the end however. A popping noise came from the open window and Fox felt something hit his shoulder. Fox felt his head become heavy and fell down on the ground. His last sight was a large set bulldog walking towards him and kneeling down next to him.

"I almost didn't believe them. So who do you work for." Fox heard him say before slipping out of consciousness.

A/N: Sorry this took so long especially for how short it was. Originally it was longer but I figured if I stretched it out I could make 1 maybe even 2 chapters of what I had originally written. Anyways like I said in the last chapter of Hero's updates are going to come out slower. Sorry :(

Until next time LONEW0LF signing out


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Fox woke up in a haze. He tried to move his arms only to realize that his arms and legs were restrained. He looked at the wall around him and saw his bare shoulder. He then looked down to see only his compressions were left. The room looked like it was part of an abandoned building. Walls were made of concrete that had a layer of green vines. The light came from a chain link fence door in front of him. A clock was hung on the far wall. It told him that it was eleven thirty and he could assume it meant am due to the light coming through. In the end all he could do was wait for whoever did this to him.

Fox waited for another ten minutes before hearing the noise of someone pushing the fence. A middle age black furred wolf stood in the doorway. He wore a grey suit with a grey fedora. He stood in sophisticated manner while holding his hands behind his back. "Fox McCloud, I do apologize for how you have awoken." The wolf spoke in an oriental accent. "You must understand that this is security."

"You know this isn't the weirdest way I've woken up. It's In my top ten but not the weirdest." The wolf smiled. "So who are You and where am I?"

"I am Lo Chi. I lead the Mei lery district of Sion." Lo said. Fox was almost happy to that he already had the ear of one of Sions leaders. Lo grabbed a chair out of the corner. "So tell me Mr. McCloud, why are you here?" He said sitting down in an interrogator like pose.

"If you must know, I'm here to deal with the pirate problem." Fox said. Lo lowered his head and started shaking his finger at Fox.

"You are a funny comedian Mr. McCloud. I almost believed you." Lo stood up and put his hand in his suit coat. "No one would ever voluntarily take on the pirates. Unless someone had been paid to say they were here to do so."

"So I see. You think I'm a spy for them. Look back into my history and tell me if I seem like the kind of person to work with thieves."

"If you keep up with our news then you will see that people can change. They can change in an instant." Lo looked down to the ground. Fox saw that this was some kind of sore subject.

"I don't know what happened here, but I want to help. My old squadmate has taken up most of the work in lylat. I came here because I have no more ties in the lylat system. None that keep me pinned." Lo studied Fox's expressions to see if his face showed any signs of lying. Lo prided himself on the ability to get the truth out of most people.

"So you wish to help our cause. I'm curious, what do you wish to be paid?" Lo said. Fox knew he was headed in the direction if he no longer had a metaphorical gun at his head.

"Enough for my ships basic needs and pay for a crew. That's it. Paying me comes secondary." Fox sternly said.

"So you just want to fight. You know your sounding more and more like a psychopath the more you talk."

"I just want an excuse to do the only job I'm good at."

"Is that all." A loud male voice said from outside the doorway. A large bulldog came into the room. He had a large form that almost touched both side of the doorway when he walked in. He wore a black suit with a matching fedora. "I think you have quite the knack for flying anything. I'd argue you could become a ship captain or teacher of some kind. Where are my manners, I am Hugh Killdove."

"Is say it's good to meet you but that will have to wait until we meet under better circumstances." Hugh looked over the nearly naked Fox. He walked behind him and untied his hands. Lo gave Hugh a confused look.

"If he was going to lie then you would have known. Or is the living lie detector losing his edge." Hugh said.

"I only find it strange that you changed an opinion so quick." Fox stood up when the restraints were cut from him. "You are usually slower when it comes to these issues." Lo walked out and motioned for Fox to follow. The outside revealed that Fox's capturing point used to be a functioning hotel. The room he was in had been inside the hotel. Two floors below him was a pool and courtyard. Overgrowth of various plants laid over the whole of the structure. Lo tapped Fox on the shoulder holding a duffel bag. "Meet us in the front once your changed." He handed Fox the bag. Lo and Hugh walked to the end of the hallway with a dark exit sign on the ceiling.

Fox walked back in the room he had been a captive in only minutes before. The duffel bag had everything Fox possessed at the time of being knocked out. He changed into his clothes from before he stepped out of the room. The sun told Fox that it must've been morning, meaning he had been asleep for nearly a day. Fox checked his phone for any new messages. Nova apparently knew that something went awry because he had eight messages from her. Four were just 'Are you alright' and the others were along the line of 'You must check in before noon or I will presume you have gone missing and will contact the authorities.' Fox sent Nova a text saying he was fine.

Nova immediately sent back a text saying 'Please do not wait so long to reply. If you wish radio silence then ask first.' Fox had some thoughts that Nova was becoming motherly. He walked down to the street where Hugh and Lo stood by an expensive looking sedan. Lo was in the front leaning on an open car door and Hugh leaned on the trunk. Hugh motioned to the back door closest to Fox while he and Lo stepped in the car. Fox got in afterwards.

Its interior was one to behold. The four seats were clad in leather and padded cushioning. A driver sat in front with one hand on the wheel and the other on his phone. The driver typed something into his phone that came up as an address on the cars gps. Soon they were on the way to whatever address the driver put in. Hugh looked over to Fox. "So what's your plan for the pirates? Someone like you has to have a plan to take on anything."

"Well I know that a pirate base is only a few miles from this city in the mountains. I may pay them a visit once a get a team together."

"You don't have a team?" Lo asked. "Isn't that the point of Star Fox to have a team alongside you?"

"My team is no longer together." Fox said sourly. "Kew is more or less a new start." Hugh and Lo said nothing more about that subject. Fox sat back fully into the seat trying to get comfortable. "So where are we going?"

"Lo Chi's district. Lo set up a hotel room for you to stay in. I'll give you both of our numbers for when you attack that base. If you need a crew then I think I could rally up a few fighters." The car stopped in front of an elegant hotel. "This is your stop sadly. We will be in contact with you."

"Thanks, I guess." Fox said. "I think I can find my own team though. I'd rather pick who I trust my life with."

"Understandable. Don't eat dinner here. Me Lo and the other district leaders are meeting tonight. It's something we do weekly but I want you to be there if you really want to take on the pirates. A Lot of us have dirt you may want to hear." Fox thanked him again and shook Hugh's hand goodbye. Fox exited the car but saw that Lo did as well. Fox looked in curiosity at Lo.

"Why are you surprised. This is my district." Lo looked out at the surrounding buildings. Many towered over the streets with sleek modern designs. There also were a few distinct features in its architecture. Most buildings had some oriental class to them. The smaller ones down the street had pagoda roofs. "Eighty years ago none of this was here. It was just a colony holding no more than a thousand people. Then some of my people came here. We had customs that most Lylatains didn't care for. Here however, we have learned to celebrate our customs and the customs of others too." Lo turned to Fox. "Fox McCloud, I'd like to welcome you to the city of Mei lery." Fox took a minute to breath it all in.

Cars bustled up and down the streets in rush hour traffic. Restaurants with vendors outside handing out samples to passer byers. Walking past Fox was a young couple probably not even out of high school. That sight brought him back to why he left Lylat in the first place. He did take some solace in the fact that for a few moments he didn't even think about her. Lo saw the sad expression on his face. "Do you usually get this emotional while watching underage couples?"

"No, no, no, no, It's nothing like that." Lo caught Fox off guard. "They just remind me of a time I used to be like that." Lo gazed over Fox's depressed face.

"Kew has a second chance for anyone." Lo said. "I would stay and talk but I am needed elsewhere. We will meet again sometime tonight." Lo walked down the street away from Fox. Fox left alone walked into the hotel. Inside was a three story atrium with a center fountain and a few desks in the corners of the room. He walked up to one desk and conversed with a clerk. Soon he was in an elevator going to one of the upper floors. The two had given him a room called the diplomatic suite. The door to the room was made of some finely carved wood with the word diplomat etched into the top area.

Inside the suite was a full kitchen and a living room with a large entertainment setup. One might mistake the hotel room for an apartment with all the amenities it came with. After Fox saw all the first room had to offer he had to see what his bedroom had. His bedroom had probably the biggest bed out of any Fox had seen. The bathroom was pretty standard with a large walk in shower. One thing that caught Fox's eye was a cut out in a wall that looked like something was behind it. Fox decided to investigate thinking that Hugh and Lo might be spying on him. He put one claw in the gap and tried pulling. It gave a little, meaning he could get it open somehow.

He figured that the door could be hacked somehow. Fox pulled out his phone and called Nova. "Nova I know you are in the ship but do you think you could hack something for me?" Nova's face came up on his phone.

"I can if you put the display projector on the ground."

"What do you mean the display projector?"

"There is a display projector in your jacket pocket. It will allow me be present wherever you are, given you are in range of the Dauntless." Fox put his hand in his jacket pocket and sure enough there was a black disk the size of a GameCube disk with a camera lens on one side. He laid it down on the floor camera side up.

"Okay Nova I placed down the projector. Can you come down now?" Fox waited all of about three seconds before Nova started appearing before him. "Okay Nova that door behind you is the one I need open." Her body turned around to look a the door. She examined the door for maybe a minute before she disappeared into the door. "Nova?" The door let out steam and it came out about an inch. It then split apart opening up what was inside.

"Welcome valued Guest." A robotic overhead voice said, "And thank you for purchasing the second honeymoon package." Fox stared wide eyed at the room behind the door. The only way he could describe it was a sex dungeon. Leashes, whips and collars were hung up on walls. A bench and a swing that could suspend a person were in prominent view.

"NOVA CLOSE THE DOOR." Fox said loudly. Nova glitched out for a minute before the door shut as slowly as it opened. Fox looked away and tried not to dwell about what just happened. Sometime later Fox was laying down on his bed looking up at the ceiling. The time was still well before Fox had a meeting with the Sion leaders. The image of knowing what was behind the door put some provocative thoughts in his mind. "Nova." He called out to an empty room. Nova animated herself where Fox left the projector.

"Yes Captain?"

"You said that you could change appearance to appeal to someone better."

"Yes Captain I did. Would you like me to change?"

"Can I ask for a custom appearance? Like a different species"

"Yes sir." Fox's mind went wild with possibilities but only after a few moments he knew exactly how he wanted Nova to appear.

"Change your species to a Fox." Nova did as asked of her. Her figure glitched once again and afterward she turned into a fox. "Shorten the muzzle and darken the secondary fur." Nova's muzzle shortened and fur went to a near perfect match that Fox wanted. "Make the hair short too." Her now hair went down to her chin and not a follicle lower. She was almost a perfect match. "Now...," Fox sat up and took off his shirt. "...remove your clothes." Fox wasn't sure if the was even in her programming. To his surprise her clothes came off in a beautiful manner. Almost like the wind blew through and swept them away. There was no way Fox could physically do to a hologram what he did to Krystal, but right now Fox was only interested in his own pleasures. He stayed in his room with his nude AI until the bosses came to get him.

Chapter 3 end

A/N: (Reader) Didn't you say you would get this out last week Sunday. (Me) Yup, and jinxed myself by stating a date. If I ever say a chapter will be out at some point, take it with a grain of salt. I'm probably going to do another chapter of this story before going back to Heroes.

Have a happy easter (Or regular Sunday if that's your thing) and until next time LONEW0LF out.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Fox sat at a round table with a few empty chairs for the other two council members. Fox had learned the four bosses, also called the council, were allied against the pirates so they would easily be swayed in any plan against them. In the past, the four bosses would fight in gang like turf wars while the government fell into disarray. When everything went to shit the four gangs came together to make remake a functioning government. They no longer fought for land or money, but instead over policies and procedures. Each district made its own laws and ordinances but most were the same.

Lo sat to the right of him and Hugh to the left. In front of each chair was a name plaque. The name in front of Fox read 'Mei district guest.' Two other names were set in front of two empty chairs. The one nearest to Hugh said Katia Nikita. The one by Lo said Matteo Corfanga. A moment later the door opened to reveal a large set polar bear and a skinny weasel. The polar bear sat down down at the Katia name plaque and vise versa for the weasel. "How nice of you to be here on time." Hugh said.

"Sorry but we got stuck travelling through your district. Fix your stop lights and we might get here quicker." Katia said. Katia spoke in some form of thick eastern cornerian accent. She wore a suit like Hugh and Lo but it had a few militaristic ribbons over the right breast of the suit. If Fox wanted to guess he would say she was about forty or fifty.

"I've got the largest district so sorry if things take a bit to get fixed. Maybe you could get a faster driver." Hugh said.

"Nyet." Katia said. Fox saw that Hugh and Katia had some clear tension.

"This isn't what we're here to talk about." Matteo said. Matteo also had an accent of some sort. It was lighter than Katia's and Lo's but was still distinguishable. Matteo looked over to Fox. "Someone told me that you can handle our pest problem."

"I can but I need your cooperation and support. I know of one base in the local mountain range." Fox gazed over to Hugh. "Remember when I said I don't need a team from you. I change my mind but I have an idea." The four animals listened to him. "I'm going to need a team but I want someone from each of your districts. Like two or three people each." The leaders looked amount themselves and seemed to nonverbally converse with each other. After a few more moments of this, Katia spoke.

"I think we can do that for you Mr. McCloud. You have our support, but we would like a run down." Katia said. Fox reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out his display.

"Nova display most recent scan marked mission area." A blue lighted hologram of a spaceport appeared. The port had only one hangar that probably held a small sized combat ship. Four other buildings lined up behind the hangar in a square pattern. They looked like overflowing warehouses with semi trucks backed up three or four links away from each of the eight loading gates. "This scan is from this afternoon. If any ship didn't make it to port recently, then I can bet that it's here." Fox reached into the hologram and tapped one of the trucks. The hologram then focused on the truck he touched. A clock appeared at the top of the hologram placing the time two hours ago.

The hologram followed the truck at an accelerated rate. The clock speed up as it followed the semi going through the Kewain countryside. Two other trucks joined the first to form a convoy heading to their destination. After awhile the countryside turned into a city and the time had advanced two hours forward. The truck slowed down to normal speeds and the clock showed time nearly up to date. Hugh looked at the hologram closely like he recognized the area. He stood up and walked to the window curtain and pulled it away.

"They're closer than we've imagined." The trucks could be seen in real life outside the window pulling into a warehouse across the street. The three other bosses plus Fox walked up to the window.

"They have been under our noses the whole time." Katia said. "We should take them out now while they don't expect it."

"No." Fox interjected. "We need the element of surprise for the mountain base raid. Killing off that warehouse will cut off its comms with the base and they'll know something's up." Fox walked back to the round table. He switched the hologram back to the base and focused on the hangar. "The trucks are key to my operation. Once they start loading up the trucks again, they'll be too preoccupied at first to see anything coming." Fox zoomed the screen out far enough to show low orbit. The Dauntless made a quick low pass in the zone before it climbed back to its regular orbit. Several white flashing dots could be seen falling from the space Dauntless just was.

"Make sure whoever you pick isn't afraid of heights. My team and I will be paradropping in low orbit and landing around the base at night. Once on the ground the goal is to create chaos. Fire coming from every direction at nightime will give us the presence that we are a bigger force than we actually are." The dots spread out when they got close to random places among the mountainside or the tops of buildings. "The goal is not to kill but capture. The more people alive, the more info we will have on who runs their operation. This whole operation will take around ten minutes from drop time to the firefight. A small coalition force should stand outside the base until the gunfire subsides a bit. When things start calming down, or the enemy force gets organized, charge into the base. They won't expect a thing." An arwing flew a low pass maybe fifty feet over the base. "Oh yeah do you know any pilots. It's not necessary but might make a difference intimidation wise." The bosses looked at each other.

"We know one. It'll take us a day to get in contact with her but we know one." Hugh said. "When are you planning to strike?"

"Whenever I get my crew."

 _Two days later inside the Dauntless_

Fox had perfectly demonstrated his ability to plan but still had to show he could lead. Most of his needed team already showed up for duty minus his pilot. He had been given her name, Kursed, and told that she was one of the best pilots in Kew. That was it however. Kursed was the only person they needed in order to start. His temporary team usually stayed in the dining hall or rec room. Fox made his way down to the rec room to meet up with the people who soon would fight alongside.

The council gave him twelve specialists for his mission with a promise to assault the base once the opposing force was disrupted. Fox briefed everyone who came to him what the mission was. The soldiers he was sent seemed very capable but two stood out to him over the rest.

Tessa was probably the smartest out of everyone on the ship. The leopard had black fur with blue highlights at the end of her short black hair. Prominent vest marks on her jacket along with her athletic build gave the impression she could hold herself in a fight. Tessa would usually be found in the hangar looking at the engineering of the ship or the specs of his Arwing. Tessa was a bit reminiscent of Slippy if Slippy had tolerable voice.

The other soldier was a red fox named Butch. He had a strong build like Fox but his fur had a darker orange red hint to it. Butch reminded Fox of himself a few years back. Shy but knew what he was doing at any time. Only difference is Butch couldn't fly.

Fox walked down to the dinning hall to meet up with some of his temporary squadmates. Four were bunched up around one end of a table talking and making jokes. Nova had an automated cooking system that made decent meals. They were nothing to rave about but they tasted pretty good. Fox grabbed one and went to the other end of the table. He needed to contact Hugh about his pilot. Kursed was a full day late and Fox wanted to strike tonight.

Fox sent high a text asking about the pilot an hour ago expecting to hear from him soon. Fox wouldn't hear about his pilot until the middle of his meal when Hugh messaged back that Kursed was on standby starting at dusk. All things were set in motion now so Fox could get the mission underway. Butch and Tessa also came in for food around the time Fox did and sat down by him.

"So, when do we make our move?" Tessa asked. Her voice was deeper for a woman but nonetheless sweet sounding.

"How does tonight sound?" Fox asked.

"Tonight!?" Butch barked. "That's kinda soon don't you think?"

"Why not. If we wait any longer then we may risk being detected or the pirate ship my take off again." Fox snapped his fingers twice. "Nova…" Nova appeared in front of him. "Send out an intercom message to gear up and get ready for the drop." Fox got up from his end with his now empty meal tray in hand. The soldiers at the other end of the table heard Fox's command and quickly cleaned up their trays. Fox sent Hugh a message to have Kursed in a holding pattern high above the base until the strike team landed. Afterwards he walked down to the hangar to a transport loaned by the council for a preflight. Tessa and Butch followed him. "You two, go inside my cockpit and check the avionics."

Butch followed Tessa since he had no idea of anything that went on in the cockpit. Fox checked his engines for any cracks or leaks while more of his soldiers arrived bit by bit. Soon enough all of his soldiers arrived geared up with night vision and HALO jumpsuits that will keep them safe while they jump from near space altitude. Soon Tessa and Butch walked out of the the transport and regrouped with the other soldiers. They all lined up at attention in a row with weapons at their sides.

"Alright I've briefed you all on what needs to be done. Shoot to wound and avoid hitting them if at all possible. Guards do need apply to this rule however. Once the chaos ensues, another land force will charge in from the gates. They're currently hiding in the mountain range and have been there since this afternoon." Fox put his hands behind his back then paced back and forth. "Split up into teams of three. Each team will have a specific building to land on." Fox grabbed a clipboard off the top of a nearby tool cart. On the clipboard were each teams assignments which were handed out as soon as the teams assembled.

They all put on the last piece of gear. Pairs of sunglasses. To any other person the glasses were nothing to behold but to the person wearing them, they were a lifesaver. Embedded inside the temples were projectors that displayed the same thing a video game would show. A compass at the top that connected to the ship. An ammo counter in the soldiers right corner that measured quick movements on the shoulder to calculate the ammo left. Lastly a GPS in the left corner that projected up to two hundred down to twenty meters around the soldier.

The soldiers landing points were sent to the glasses. They all walked into the transport as a deathly quiet fell over them all. Fox didn't need his ex's powers to know everyone was nervous. No one goes into battle cocky or with a high head. Those who did aren't around to tell their tale. Fox sat in the cockpit looking back at the others taking their seats. Fox took of once everyone sat down. He watched his radar for anything coming back at him but also for Kursed. A sole blip on radar with an arwing class marking popped up. He switched his radio to a predetermined frequency that he sent to Kursed pre-mission.

"Momma bird to blackbird, blackbird do you copy?" Fox said into a headset off to the side. He held up one end of it to his ear waiting for Kursed's reply.

"Momma bird this is blackbird, in holding pattern five clicks from target area." Said a staticy feminine voice. Fox almost thought it familiar but the interference. Then he decided to ignore it.

"Strike team launching in three minutes. Strafe the middle road and take out any trucks on it. Don't attack until my team is on the ground."

"Copy momma bird." Kursed said back. "Awaiting orders." Fox set the transport on autopilot for a course back the Dauntless. The seats the soldiers sat on folded up to make them standing. Two long and skinny drop doors opened up where the soldiers sat only a moment ago. The soldiers were locked in to the wall staring at each other nervously. A red light shined brightly throughout the cabin. Everyone put on a serious face like this was just a normal day. The light turned green and everyone but Fox dropped out of the transport. Fox watched as they all disappeared into the night sky before jumping out himself. His glasses made out everyone of his strike team falling at nearly thirty miles high.

Fox's team fell uneventfully for almost twenty minutes before coming in close to the landing areas. Just like the briefing, all teams landed on the correct buildings. Three on each warehouse and Fox on the main hangar. The warehouses all had hangar like doors that were fully open. Inside trucks were being loaded up with crates and barrels. Animals of all kinds bustled in and around the trucks to get them filled. It looked less like a criminal operation and more like some average job.

"All teams ready and in position." Tessa's voice said over the radio. Fox looked at the rooftops seeing each team aiming blasters in the warehouses.

"Open fire." In one second the entire base erupted in green and red blaster bolts. Fox had no angles on any of the warehouses so instead he watched for anyone leaving the starship hangar. He became worried when the sound of an engine starting drowned out the gun play. A fighter exited the hangar so quickly Fox, so couldn't hit it. The fighter darted into the night.

Another fighter flew overhead that strafed the road in front of him. Fox grabbed his radio "Kursed, there's another fighter in the air." Fox said frantically. "He flew straight out."

"Copy he's on my radar." Kursed said. The loud noise of Kursed's engines roared as its blue exhaust darted towards the last location. The gunfire could be heard again as the fighter went further out to the mountain valleys. Fox pulled his parachute out of his backpack and laid it out over the hangar roof. He held the backpack straps in his arms like a hug then jumped off the front of the hangar. Fox fell freely for maybe ten meters before the parachute caught him. The hangar was probably a hundred meters tall and Fox could see into the repair shop where three more fighters by the door and a small cruiser behind them.

Fox saw two pilots inside two of the fighters almost ready to take off. Those he couldn't stop but the third was still being prepped. The two fighters started their engines while Fox was halfway down to the ground level. Fox used the handles on his parachute to avoid the the flying ships taking off in his direction. One of the ships took off in full force sending Fox flying back into the hangar. The pilot of the third fighter was getting into his craft but got bumped off by by Fox legs. Fox let go of his backpack and landed where the pilot once stood. The cockpit canopy was open so Fox stepped in. He started the engine as quick as he could trying to get out before the ground crews around reacted.

Fox pushed the fighters throttle to ad far forward as he could and pointed the nose straight up. The craft accelerated slower than his arwing but seemed more maneuverable. "Kursed, two more fighters just took off. I stole one and am in pursuit." Fox saw the exhaust of the two fighters from earlier ahead, but before he lock on both fighters lit up into fireballs.

"Taken care of. Though you missed one." Fox saw a red light flash that read 'Lock-on Warning.'

"Wait, wait , wait Kursed that's me." Fox screamed into his radio. The light stopped right after.

"Alright, next time tell me what your flying. I nearly shot you down." Fox let a sigh of relief through. "Captain Star, I'd love to stay but I've been floating for awhile so fuel is running short. See you later hopefully." Kursed said.

'Captain Star, who told her that was my name.' Fox thought. He lost interest as it probably was whichever council member hired her. 'Should probably give air cover to the soldiers.' Fox flew down to the ground. "Strike team this the captain, I've commandeered one of the fighters and now heading to you. Does anyone need air cover?"

"Thanks Captain but, I think we have this covered. Most everybody in the five hangars surrendered right as you left. Main battalion got here and no one fired a shot." Butch said.

"That's right Captain." Hugh's voice said over the radio. "For the time being, your service is not needed. My team will take the prisoners into custody and interrogate them. I will share what we find out." Fox didn't like the fact Hugh was going to interrogate all those people but he couldn't say anything. Fox didn't want to land his fighter at the base just to have it taken by the council. It wasn't that he didn't trust the council but wanted to keep a extra ship for if his arwing had something wrong. He flew it further into the atmosphere looking for the Dauntless.

"Nova this is Fox, I need your location. This is a new ship so ID and log it. I want this ship given a standard overhaul."

"Understood Captain. Sending the coordinates to your news ship's computer." A series of numbers showed up on a screen in front of him. Fox recognized the location as right above the city. He turned his new ship in the direction of the Dauntless and booked it. Worried about how pirates trained mechanics were, he wanted to land as soon as possible. A short six minute flight in orbit and Fox could see the Dauntless. The main hangar door was open so Fox just flew in. He opened the canopy to be met by Nova eyeing over the new addition. "Kydred Fighter version 1.0. These haven't been manufactured in twenty years. Shall I begin the overhaul as requested? It may take up to ninety four hours for a complete overhaul and if anything if found to be wrong with it, parts may be hard to come by."

"Go ahead with it." Fox said exiting the craft. "Hey Nova did you get the contact info for the strike team?" Fox asked.

"Yes I revived ninety two percent of the strike teams info."

"Alright I need you send send a message to Tessa, Butch and Kursed. I want to offer them a position on my crew."

"I can only send your message to Tessa and Butch. I do not possess Kursed's contact information." Fox swore under his breath.

"Wait, Kursed was flying ten minutes ago around the target area. Can you track her signal back to wherever she took off from?"

"Affirmative sir." Nova swiped her hand in front of herself and a map displaying Kew appeared. A point started bleeping in the starport that then zoomed in. "The craft appears to be in hangar forty one dash eight." Fox checked the time to see it was seven am Icarus time.

"I guess I have to ask her in person then. Is my arwing ready for a short flight down to the starport?"

"Yes captain. I will begin overhaul of the Kydred fighter." Fox walked to his arwing then opened his canopy with a remote on a tool cart. He grabbed the right wing and pulled himself up. Fox prefered his arwing over anything, but maybe some more time with the Kydred would change his mind. Like many times before Fox did a run up test by checking fuel and arming his G diffuser.

 _Outside hangar 41-8_

Fox looked into the hangar at an modified arwing that lay on its engines instead of the usual landing gear. The engines looked bigger than the average arwings so they would definitely use more gas. Hence why Kursed had to leave so soon. Fox walked into the hangar. "Hello Kursed, what did she call me, It's Captain Star." He said patiently.

"Captain, I thought we were done with the mission. Is there something else you needed?" Her voice sounded creepily familiar.

"The mission was a success. I wondered if you would be interested in joining my team." Footsteps could be heard coming from around the ship.

"I appreciate the offer," Fox could see her coming around the nose of the arwing. "But I like the freedom of being my own boss-" The two of them paused just looking at each other like deer in headlights.

"Holy shit Krystal, it's you." Fox said with an astounded face.

"Don't swear." Krystal said stabbing her finger into Fox's chest. She tilted her head as if to realize something. "You hired me just so you could get close to me. Do you know how much I've been through since you kicked me off your team and now you want me back!"

"It hasn't been a walk in the park for me either. Whatever you've been through, I'm definitely on par at least."

"ON PAR, Fox I have a-"

"Mommy." Said a young voice from behind Fox. He turned around to see a small boy maybe four years old. He had blue fur like Krystal but every one Fox's facial features, even his natural white mo-hawk. "Why are you screaming?"

Chapter 4 end.

A/N: Well that took longer than it should have. I had a few reasons for this. 1 My phone (main writing tool) stopped charging so I had to send it in and lost about two weeks of writing time. 2 I spent a lot of time just thinking about how to end the chapter with Marcus in it. More than I did thinking about the rest of the chapter honestly. 3 Far cry good game.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

Krystal pushed Fox into a room connected to the hangar. Krystal closed the door behind them. The room had three tables covered with random junk. Windows looked out to both the hangar and a street behind the spaceport. Fox stood immobile from the shock of what was happening. She saw that Fox was not moving and grabbed his collar. She moved him to a chair and sat him down.

"Fox let me ask you. Why are you here?" He sat silently slightly moving his head every so often. Krystal knew he was too deep in thought so she had an idea to bring him back. She grabbed a thermos with black liquid inside. "Was this coffee or an oil test?" Krystal said aloud. She removed the lid and threw the contents on Fox. Fox came back quickly when he felt the liquid hit him. He jumped up and wiped his face rapidly a piece of cloth that was in arms reach. "Heh, lucky you it was coffee." Fox wiped his eyes and looked at her.

"Is he mine?" Krystal gazed over the window and watched her child. He was a creative kid and currently played with sockets like they were toy cars.

"Yes, Marcus is your son." That news struck Fox in a way that made him unsure how to feel. He had a kid that he never knew about. He missed so much of his life already. Fox knew he had to do something.

"Alright, but why didn't he recognize me?" Krystal turned back to Fox.

"Sadly his father is away saving the world and can't come here right now." Krystal said coldly. Fox stood up to protest at what she just said but was silenced by Krystal's hand on his muzzle. "That's what I told him and you won't tell him anything different." She removed her hand from his mouth.

"Why?"

"Why, Fox what were you doing before this? Actually let me guess, you were sitting around the McCloud estate and saw that this system has someone problems." Krystal became angrier at the end of each sentence. "You then rushed into battle without telling anyone because you think it's your duty to keep the universe safe. You'd rather die than know you failed." Her angry tone died down for a more somber one. "Fox. You can't stop fighting. It's like you're addicted to it. I don't want Marcus to meet you only to see you leave and never come back."

"If you're afraid of Marcus not having a parent than why do you still fight?" Fox said dryly.

Krystal Paused for a moment before saying, "Because the man who saved me, never taught me how to do anything else but fight." Fox felt his heart sink. She was right, in all the time he knew her he never did anything else but fight alongside her. "Fox do you know the old quote, "You either die the hero or see yourself become the villain," It uncomfortably applies to your situation. A man who was revered as a hero but over time couldn't stop what he was good at and now fights a fight he has no ties too." Krystal looked at the floor. Fox stood up quickly

"I have changed since then I swear."

"CHANGED, Fox no less than twelve hours ago I saw you jump off a building into a fighter and shoot down two fighters." Krystal raged back at him.

"You shot them down." Fox said. Krystal was about to say something but Fox cut for off. "Yeah I know it's not important but I need to know. You could've just left and flew transport or captain a cargo vessel. There's some reason you still fight. What is it?" Krystal almost lashed out at him but calmed herself down. "Money or did they promise you something?"

"Fox when I was brought back from Cerinia, I vividly remember this system."

 _ **Nine years ago, the Kew system**_

A eighteen year old Krystal had just watched her world destroy itself from weapons made of light and sound. A light came out the sky and caused the ground to crack like ice. The world shook and came apart. Krystal remembered flying through the sky and into the cold space while the gravity of her planet vanished. The ground itself uprooted and followed her and her village into the atmosphere. The further up she went the harder it he came to breath. Soon She had no air left as all of it disappeared into space. Her entire body grew cold and She could nearly feel her death coming. At the last second, Krystal felt a hand on her back and around her waist. Though she blacked out before she saw whoever did it.

Krystal came to with no strength to move. She sat alone in a room handcuffed to a bolted down desk. As much as she struggled she couldn't get free of her imprisonment. Krystal gathers herself so she could use her telepathy on anyone in the area. Maybe she could find out ago did this. After a moment a candidate was found.

"Andross is gonna kill us when we only come back with one of 'em." Said a male voice to the person whose mind she listened to. Something the average person wouldn't know is that minds have similar patterns for words. While she couldn't understand what they said directly, she could find out the majority of what a person said in their head. Krystal listened in on everything she could but some words were beyond her. Talk of spaceships and Lylat went over her head.

"Yeah but that weapon was his idea. At least we can report that it worked like a charm." Said another voice. The longer she stayed in the mind of her captor, the clearer the picture became of whoever this person was. The first person sat in a chair outlooking a starry vista. It would've been more beautiful if Krystal could see it through something other then the mind of her captor.

"He's still going to be pissed at us." Krystal got a clearer view of the people behind her kidnapping. Both were primates inside a control center watching screens and pushing buttons. The one who recently spoke stood up and walked back. "I'm going to check on the guest." He said. A hissing noise came from the corner of the room as a grey indent lifted into the ceiling. The primate who entered wore black pants and a green sectioned shirt. He had red one lens glasses with an electric dot that moved back and forth. He knelt down next to Krystals cage. A silver glint on the primates chest caught her eye. "I don't know what he wants with you, but if I were you, I'd think about whatever good times you had." Krystal recognized the silver on his chest as a sheathed knife with a handle facing up. The ape leaned over so his arm prodded two of the cage bars. "...'Cause I'd bet you won't have much longer to think about anything."

Krystal saw this as her one chance out. With one hand she grabbed the ape's shirt and pulled him close. The other hand grasped the knife handle and pulled it out of its sheath. The ape grabbed her arm but couldn't hold back her forward motion of her arm. It punctured the apes chest past his ribs into his lungs. He struggled for a second trying to get the knife out from him only to find it a vain attempt. He tried yelling out for his partner but couldn't get more than a small audible breath out. He fell on the cage and didn't move.

Five minutes of fumbling around with the ape's coat, Krystal walked out with a blaster in her hand. She had tapped into his memory too see where she was being taken. She knew everything that the ape had previously known. Even in death an undamaged mind could give details of someone's life. A shaken Krystal became contempt that the man she killed did not live a virtuous life. The same could be said for the one other person on the ship. She walked out to the control center and brought the blaster to the back of the chair. Krystal pulled the trigger twice aimed at the apes chest. He never knew what happened.

Krystal looked through his memory as well to find out where she was. The memories of both apes granted Krystal the ability of their language and customs. She also learned how the ship worked. She was in the Kew system or somewhere near the main planet. She used the memory of the ape to manage her way onto the Kew ground. Sadly she could not find out how they got to Cerinia. The ship had a predetermined route by a computer. She had no chance of finding it and before she knew it could have been hacked into, she sold the ship for money and a smaller ship.

 _ **Present**_

"That is why I'm here. To find out where my planet is. I hired an astronomer at the university to help me but he asks for payment each time. Anytime I take a job to pay him, I never take a mission that I may not make it back from." Krystal sat down on top of a box. Fox saw her disheveled state and wanted to do something about it. He moved over to her, put his arm around her and brought her into a comforting embrace. He may not have seen her for over five years but felt it was right to do so. Krystal tucked herself against Fox and pressed her head into his chest. "I have missed you Fox, but right now, I need to think about the needs of my son and I."

"I'm sorry." Fox said sadly. He stood up slowly while removing Krystal from his chest. "If you change your mind, I'll stand by my word. There's a spot open on my team if you want it." Fox walked toward the door. He put his hand on the doorknob when one final thought entered his mind he had to say. "I missed you too." With that said he opened the door and left.

Right outside the office, Marcus used mechanics tools and parts as improvised toys. He put sockets in top of a bent metal sheet meant for the curve of a wing and watched them roll down. He held what looked like a metal doll. Upon closer inspection the body of the doll was the muzzle brake of a ballistic rifle. Four alan keys ran through the bottom giving the doll legs. Two more alan keys ran through the middle giving it arms. At the top was a metal fox head with a mean face sharpied on. If Fox were to guess the fox head was some kind of hood ornament.

Fox looked closer at Marcus now as he walked closer the the outside of the hangar. He had Fox's near signature features. A white Mohawk running through his head and two jade colored eyes. Marcus looked up to the window into the office. "Wow mister, I haven't seen mommy smile like that ever." Fox turned his head where he last saw Krystal. She sat on the box where they were a moment ago. Only now she had a hand over her eyes. Light drops of water could be seen seeping through her fingers but a clear smile was present on her lips.

'I wonder what she's thinking?' Thought Fox. He debated walking back pulling her close and not letting go or just leaving like he was going to.

"She's thinking there's still a chance." Marcus said. Fox looked over at him but he put his head down quickly. "Sorry my mom says I'm not supposed to look into other people's minds." Fox continued to look at him. He knelt down while Marcus went back to playing with the handcrafted tools.

"It's okay." Fox said plainly. He watched as Marcus set the socket back at the top and raced down and jumped itself at the bottom. The socket flew up in the air and landed by the muzzle brake doll. "So what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to launch the rollers to my dad." Marcus said putting another socket or 'roller' as he called them on the top on the metal piece. That last part though caught his attention as it should have. Marcus called the brake doll his father. The roller ran down gaining speed and momentum. It flew through the air for a second or two until it fly into the two mid section alan keys. The roller hit the brake making it wobble a moment before it sabalized. "That's your dad?" Fox asked. The four legged doll stood static with a socket in its two outstretched key arms.

"Yeah, it's not my real dad. My mom says my real dad is fighting all the evil people in the universe. She told me he was the most strongest and most bravest person she ever knew. I wanna meet him someday, Marcus said excitedly but then lowered his enthusiasm for the next sentence, "but mom says he may never be back because there's alot of evil in the universe." Fox choked up a small amount. Krystal still spoke kindly of him even though she was raising him on her own. "Do you think I'll ever see him?" Marcus asked staring him in the eye. Fox looked back at him sincerely.

"I bet you'll meet him someday soon."

 **A/N: Have you ever been driving somewhere and sometime while you're driving you forget where you going. Yeah that same thing happened with Heroes. So until I figure out where that was going in putting my effort into this story. In other news E3 is upon us and I have my fingers crossed for a new Star Fox.**

 **Until next time LONEW0LF out.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Fox sat in the back of a rideshare suv that was taking him to a meeting. Butch messaged Fox that he would join but wanted to work out a contract in private. He now rode over to a place he and Butch determined would work for what they needed. Shortly after that the council wanted to talk about the next step in the meeting room. All Fox had to do now was just sit back and enjoy the ride through the city. The area around the spaceport could be described best as an urban ghetto. Houses just sort of built atop another. Some of the bottom buildings held random shops and restaurants at the bottom street levels. The streets were covered in people running to and fro. Many crossing in the middle of the street just barely missing cars that drove past.

Fox found himself slowly watching the world pass by him. He watched the people move by faster than cars because of all the mid street foot traffic. His suv which had no driver precariously inched through the crowded environment. Anytime someone walked in front of the car It stopped and waited a few seconds before starting up again. It somewhat annoyed Fox that he'd probably be late to his meeting with Butch. Fox didn't let it get to him and instead focused on the people walking on the sidewalk.

Fox watched for maybe a minute before he saw a young family. A lynx mother and german shepard father both in their late twenties walking through the streets with little girl. The girl took more of her father's canine features but had the mother's lynx ears. The daughter sat on the father's shoulders and stared in bewilderment at the world. Fox watched them a moment later but, as he blinked the whole scene changed. It wasn't the couple that was there a second ago. Instead it was Krystal, Marcus and himself. Marcus was on his shoulder and Krystal stood by him holding his hand. He and Krystal were looking at each other lovingly like there was never a fight between them. Fox blinked again and the whole scene was gone.

For awhile he sat staring out at the window pondering what he just witnessed. Fox just saw him and his ex happily together with their child. It made him happy thinking about it but after some thought he knew it was just a dream. Eventually he chalked it up to his subconscious playing tricks on him and trying to make what he wanted a reality. The scene he just saw would take a miracle to come true and maybe more. Fox closed his eyes to think more about him together with Krystal and Marcus.

His suv came to a stop a minute later in front of a house. The door handle went from red to green meaning he could now leave. A wave of hot and humid air rushed in to meet Fox as he stepped outside. The suv drove off down the street a bit faster than it did when he was in it. ' _Could've done that before.'_ Fox thought. He looked forward at the house. It looked old based on the chipped white paint and wood that struggled to stay together. The rest of the block this house was on looked the same as this house. Disheveled and unmaintained houses mere feet away from each other. Fox walked up to the house's front. A screened in porch was the first thing that fox walked into. He knocked on the faded green door that looked older than the house. A figure in the porch a house over sat rocking on a chair caught Fox by surprise. Granted the figure was sitting down and looking away but it still surprised Fox that he didn't catch it.

The door knob to Butch's house audibly clicked and the door creaked open. Out stepped Krystal in a black tee shirt and blue jean shorts. "Oh hey Fox." She said in a masculine voice. Fox blinked and again she was gone. In her place was Butch wearing a black tee shirt and blue jeans. Butch looked over Fox worryingly. "You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Butch asked. Fox realized he was looking at Butch with the same eyes he saw Krystal with.

"Yeah, yeah no I just. Nevermind." Fox answered back dodging the question. Butch wanted to ask further but decided not too. He convinced himself that if it was important then Fox would tell him.

"Well should we talk business then?" Butch said motioning into his house. Fox nodded and stepped in. From the entryway of the house, Fox could see the whole first floor. An old couch by a newish tv and two consoles in the entertainment system. A kitchen full of outdated appliances connected to a dining room. The dining room had a small table with three chairs. Two on one side and one on the other. Fox took a seat on the chair with only one on that side. "Do you want anything to drink?" Butch asked.

Fox made a low and slow waving motion with his hand. "No thanks let's just get to business." Fox took out a small holo projector and placed it on the table. A blue light came out of the projector that stabilized into a white light about a foot above the lens. "I came up with a draft contract for you. You aren't a pilot so you won't receive the same I'll offer another pilot who may join. I'm giving you a two month contract with an extension option if I need you longer. All you need to do is put your hand on the projector." Fox said nearly in one breath. Butch looked at Fox with a look of confusion.

"Yeah if you don't mind I think I'd like to look this over myself. Take some time to make my choice." Fox wasn't disappointed at his response. He knew Butch might be hesitant in signing with someone he only knew for a few days. With some hope and time however, he hoped that Butch would take his deal.

"I understand." Fox said standing up. "If you make your decision then you know how to get in touch." Fox started walking towards the door. "In two hours if you decide yes, message me." He looked at his phone and realized that the self driving car was a lot slower than he initially thought. He had anticipated this meeting to take around ten minutes and he was still behind his desired schedule, even though he only spent maybe three minutes with Butch. 'This time no computer.' Fox thought as he opened the rideshare app. Three cars came up in a half mile radius. He choose the closet one with a living driver.

Fox looked next to him at the porch. The figure still sat in the chair rocking back and forth. Beyond him down the road was a white sedan that Fox recognized as his ride. He took one step down, nodded a friendly nod to the figure who waved back and walked down to the car. A driver remotely opened the back door. Fox slid into the cloth bench seat and closed the door behind him. The driver checked out Fox plus his window. He actually focused more on the window then on Fox.

"Hey is that window closed?" he asked. Fox moved his finger onto the side handle and pulled the window button up. It didn't move.

"Yeah it's up, why?" A ringing noise was sounded through the car. The kind of ring one might hear when a grenade pin is pulled. Fox turned around with lightning speed. Not quick enough though. The driver held up a fire extinguisher with the nozzle pointed at Fox. He squeezed the handles together shooting a yellow mist at force in Fox's face. Fox reached out to stop the flow but couldn't find the strength to lift his arm high enough. He fell back into the seat motionless.

"Enjoy the ride buddy. Might be your last." The last thing Fox saw was his driver lowering his window. Then he faded into unconsciousness

 _Later in the warehouse district._

Fox awoke with his hands tied behind his back. A cold steel chair rubbed up against his legs. It was then he noticed that for the second time in two weeks, he had been captured, tied up and stripped naked. 'Again really.' He thought to himself. This room was large enough to put an entire arwing maintenance depot inside. Suspended lights hung around the space but scarcely any worked. Ten out of the maybe fifty hanging lights illuminated random areas around the warehouse. In the distance in front of him were three silhouetted figures walking around. Before one of the figures could walk forward, footsteps started coming up from behind. Stomping from boots on pavement got louder as a shadow to Fox's right became larger. Fox lifted his head to meet whoever had walked up to him.

A female skunk came up next to Fox. She wore a grey sweatshirt with the hood up. The only defining feature was her white line on her nose. She probably aged somewhere near Fox, maybe a little older. A silhouette came running up with a chair. Another came up with a briefcase. The first set down the chair by the skunk. The second came up to Fox and opened the case. Silhouette two, now clearly a feline of some sort, grabbed something out of the case. This thing had two suction cups attached to a black box. The feline put one of the cups against his back and fastened the first to his upper back. The other was placed on his hip. The black box device hung on his chest.

"Is kidnapping and stripping people just a pastime here?" Fox asked. The skunk didn't move an inch. The feline finished up and pulled apart some of the front device on his chest. She held a square metal frame that turned into a holographic tablet. The third silhouette ran up with a first aid case. This one turned into a male husky.

"I'm sure you have other questions than our hobbies. Don't you want to know who we are, why we need you or how we knew where you were?" The skunk said. The husky opened the first aid case to reveal a syringe. The animal pulled out the syringe and a black liquid in a glass jar. Fox watched this and said nothing. "Intrigued are we?" The skunk said. Fox decided that if he stayed silent for now then maybe he could get out sooner. "Let me start off then, I'm Molly. These little worker bees running around help me run my little extraction business." The feline handed the holo tablet to Molly. "If you resist then that only makes this harder. So tell me who told you where the raiding base was?" She said inquisitively. Fox just looked at her calmly. In his mind silence made sense. If he just stayed quiet long enough then they would get bored and let him go.

The husky put the needle of the syringe in the glass jar. Black liquid filled the syringe to the fullest it could be. Inside the syringe the liquid seemed to almost move on It's own. The plastic holding it in pulsed back and forth with some escaping from the back end. "Wondering what that is? So am I. It's apparently an old venomian drug with a machine to go along with it." Molly said. She tapped a setting on the tablet. Pain couldn't describe what Fox felt next. The cups on his back and hip made such movements to make everything inside his skin feel like it tried to find its way out. He could feel his guts move and contort in ways he never imagined possible. Preoccupied with the fire inside him, he didn't notice the husky inject him with the black liquid.

Molly stopped the machine. "Ready to talk?" She mocked. Fox looked at her and in a low beaten voice he said.

"Death before Dishonor." A motto some Cornarian military units had. He straightened up in order to get ready for the next wave of torture.

"So you don't want to play my game. Then let me play yours. The drug my associate put in you has an advantage over all over I could administer." She poked at the tablet some more. "I control your trip."

Fox's vision went black. All he could see was a dark void with nothing around him. "I wish he were dead. It would of make this whole damn thing easier." Krystal's voice said in the darkness. A bar appeared like the darkness was water washing away. Fox watched from a ceiling corner like he were a security camera. Krystal sat in front of Fox talking to a white haired primate. Fox studied the ape for a second more until he knew who he was. Andross sat next to Krystal and conversed with her like one would with a friend.

"Maybe that could be arranged." Andross said. He looked at his phone typing up something. "Look at Fox's estimated bank account. Say if I were to make him take a little dirt nap. You give me thirty percent of that. Would we call it a fair trade?" Krystal glanced at his phone eyes in wonder at the screen.

"That could set me up for life." She said taking his phone in her hand. "That could set Marcus up for life." Krystal stood up and started to walk around.

"Could set me up too." A loud noise came from Andross's jacket. The jacket started turning blue along with the rest of his clothes. After a moment Andross looked exactly like Krystal. He put a set of fake teeth in. "And I'm not big on sharing." Andross said in Krystal's voice. He reached in his jacket again and pulled out a handgun, aimed it at Krystal and shot her. The blast hit her in the shoulder as she fell on the ground dead. Fox screamed her name but nothing came out of his mouth. Andross put on a mask that copied every single facial feature of Krystal's. "Be content that the last face Fox sees will be yours."

"Mom?" A young voice said. Fox and Andross looked over as Marcus stood in the bar's doorway. He ran over to Andross who now looked identical in every way to Krystal. "Mommy who is that?" Andross put his foot behind Krystal's shoulder to flip her over. Her limp body rolled over to leave a very confused Marcus. "Mommy?" He said with an audible sad voice. Andross pulled the handgun back out. Marcus looked back at Andross who had a gun pointed right at his head. Fox closed his eyes.

"NOOOOOOO!" Fox kept his eyes closed not wanting to see anything.

"See." Molly's voice said. "Your worst fears, your worst nightmares, I can bring them out in you." Fox opened his eyes to see he was back in the warehouse. He felt tears coming down his eyes down to his chin. His arm instinctively went to wipe his face but he remembered that he was restrained. Still though, his right arm moved more that it should have. Fox moved it more and realised quickly it wasn't tied down anymore.

"Then throw me everything you have." Fox said cockily.

"While you were in your high you mentioned the name, Krystal." Molly looked at the tablet. "I think I know that know who that is. Five years ago a pilot came to Kew asking for work. Blue fur, blue hair, tribal tattoos and baby that was maybe a day old." Fox got visibly worried. "If I remember right. That baby boy had a white stripe on his head just like yours." Molly looked at Fox evilly. "You know where I'm going with this. Tell me who told you about the base or I can make a certain family living in a spacecraft hangar disappear."

"The council." Fox said immediately. "The council gave me all my information." Molly opened her mouth to speak again. Before she could talk, A laser bolt struck her in the face. The three henchmen reached for their sidearms. The first got their weapon into the air aimed at where the blast came from. He fired off four shots before one came out of the directly hitting his chest. Fox knew this was his opportunity to run. He ripped off the rope on his left arm. The feline and the husky shot in random directions toward the original two shots. Fox untied his right leg husky pointed at Fox.

"He's getting away." The husky started shooting at Fox. He tried to run but the leg he didn't untie tripped him up and flung him backwards. The back of his head fell on the pavement knocking him unconscious.

Chapter 6 end.

A/N:

Fox= Two months, it took you two and a half months to write that.

Me= Yeah I said tomorrow a few to many times. I wanted some more time before I said anything, but I'm joining the army reserve. Don't worry I'm not abandoning this story but starting September 14th, I won't be able to post anything for at least ten weeks probably more.

Fox= So what your new upload schedule.

Me= Shut...shut up. Anyway sorry for this inconvenience but I'm going to try and get one more chapter up before I leave for basic. Do I want it to happen yes. Will it happen, maybe. I'm going try my best but based on my past trends don't count on it.

Until next time LONEW0LF out.


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